Strive To Know More & Be Better

The past few weeks have resulted in interesting dialogue with colleagues, peers and clients. Everything from establishing budgets for business to who is actually in business?

Not only have the lines of friendship been blurred thanks to Facebook, so have the lines of professionalism. (Note: Can you honestly say that your Facebook friends are your “friends”?) No wonder the consumer gets confused sometimes!

Have yet to see anyone claim to be a doctor or lawyer (thank goodness!) but apparently, for some in today’s world: having a camera makes one a photographer; starting a blog makes one a journalist; sewing a button makes one a fashion designer; dressing one’s self in a semi-coordinated outfit makes one a stylist; hosting a party makes one an event planner; cooking a meal makes one a chef; babysitting makes one a parenting expert; and knowing some html coding means you may be a graphic or web designer. Seriously?

Rational people who have worked extensively in the aforementioned industries know that these statements are not true. Just as social media is so new and evolving, is it really safe to claim expertise because we have a Twitter account?

Whether it’s business or personal life, the goal should always be to keep learning, growing and becoming better. In personal life, you benefit (as do those around you) from taking care of yourself, eating better, staying active, etc. For business life, innovation, creativity and staying current (preferably two steps or more ahead) are necessary to establish sustainability. There are so many ways to “throw ourselves out there” nowadays, but let’s not forget what really makes for perfect…nothing! You’re not going to reach perfection, but you should be striving for best practice efforts in business. Knowing when to defer to the experts or more experienced or seasoned professionals in an industry, and remembering to practice, practice, practice and then launch. Also, knowing when to experiment and be adventurous.

When working with customers (and businesses), you want to take special care with the information, services and products you are providing. Again, whether business or personal: if you don’t know something, ask. If you need help, speak up. There are too many people on the planet to do and learn everything yourself. Fake it until you make it is overrated. Being authentic is the latest trend (and it’s always in style), so it’s time to get real!

What does this have to do with public relations, marketing and advertising? Relevance. When you are authentic in business and sharing your message – while always learning, growing and getting better – you will remain relevant and newsworthy. Our goal is to educate, inspire and motivate our clients and their customers (the public) while reaching a broader market with their message. We focus on providing information and in return, our clients and the public benefits.

It’s not about simply promoting your business or brand you and slapping a label on what you do (and you know we enjoy labels as it relates to fashion!), but remaining true to your craft and sharing that expertise with others. This involves constantly honing your skills, working with people not only in your industry but outside of your industry, consulting with your mentors and peers, and giving back.

How are you keeping your business relevant and real?

“When you know better you do better.” ~Maya Angelou

*The symbol is known as nsaa (a type of handwoven fabric). According to “The Adinkra Dictionary” by W. Bruce Willis, the nsaa symbols reflects a saying: “nea onnim nsaa oto n’ago”, which translates as: “He who does not know authentic Nsaa will buy the fakes.” The quality of Nsaa has come to represent quality of workmanship in general.

At White Book Agency, we respect your personal information and we are committed to protecting your privacy. We have updated our privacy policy to reflect how we collect data and interact with visitors at White Book Agency.

Personal Data We Collect & Disclosure
When you visit our site and/or contact us, we may collect personal information that you voluntarily provide, for instance, your name, mailing address, phone number, e-mail address, etc. or when you use our “contact us” feature, sign-up for downloads, e-mail alerts, contests or marketing promotions. This allows us to communicate with you upon request and provide you with White Book Agency e-mails, updates, service offerings, industry trends, client news, etc.

When inquiring about our Services, we may also collect information you voluntarily provide regarding your business, goals, and interest in our Services. This allows us to make recommendations and determine the suitability of our Services for your needs.

We are committed to safeguarding all information collected and your personal and submitted business information is only used for our internal purposes (again, for example, to communicate with you upon request and provide you with White Book Agency e-mails, updates, service offerings, industry trends, client news, etc.)

Technical Data
When you visit our website, technical data about your browsing actions and patterns may be tracked by automated site technology applications that we use. This may include the type of Internet browser you use, domain name of the web site from which you linked to our site, IP addresses, and technical and/or tracking data from analytics providers, e-mail technologies, search information providers, and advertising networks. The information that is collected allows us to understand more about our users which enables us to tailor our website to best suit awesome people like you and communicate back to those who visit our site with the latest advances, developments, and more at White Book Agency.

We also have cookies. And not the kind we like to eat, but the kind that provides you with conveniences and ease of getting around our website. For instance, if you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies so that you don’t have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. (These cookies will last for one year. So, totally not like the cookies we like that only last a few hours.)

On some areas of our site we may include embedded content, for instance, images, TV clips, news articles, etc. Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same ways as if you visited the other website. Don’t ask us how, it’s like Interweb magic. What we know is that these websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracing your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

None of your personal information or data that is collected will be sold, rented (nor borrowed), or marketed to any third parties.

Now, we do reserve the right to disclose your information, without your permission, if necessary, to protect and defend the rights, property and safety of White Book Agency, our clients, partners, employees, affiliates and other users of our website. So don’t do anything that’s not cool! We may also disclose information that is in compliance with any applicable disclosure laws and regulations (e.g. by the government or applicable business sale transactions).

Security
White Book Agency uses reasonable technological measures to maintain the security of your personal information and to keep it from loss, unauthorized access, misuse, or disclosure. This is the Internet though, and with the nature of technology and software applications, there is no guarantee of security of your personal information and we expressly disclaim obligation to such guarantees. By continuing to interact with and/or use our website, you are proceeding with this understanding.

Also, on our website, we occasionally link to other websites. White Book Agency is not responsible for any websites that we do not own or operate. Please carefully review the privacy policies of other websites that you link to from ours as we are not responsible for their privacy practices.

Oh, and we have to tell you something else. When you enter our site through an online advertisement located on a third-party site (that’s a site that someone else owns), this information is provided voluntarily. If you do not want to have this information collected, please do not submit it to us. Again, we will not sell, rent, or market personally-identifiable information collected on our site to any third parties. We don’t roll like that.

Updates
If you would like to access, correct, update or delete any personally identifiable information that we may have, or have questions about any data that we have, you may contact us at: itsprivate[at]whitebookagency[dot]com. When you contact us at this e-mail, we may need to request information from you in order to fulfill your request, which we will do in a reasonable amount of time.

Good grief, we think that’s it.

Any changes to our privacy policy will be featured on this website under Privacy Policy. If you ever have any questions, please contact us here or by e-mailing: itsprivate[at]whitebookagency[dot]com.